HPV 16/18 E6/E7/HSP70 plasmid DNA prime vaccine pBI-11/HPV 16/18 E6/E7 Vaccinia boost vaccine TA-HPV PVX7

A therapeutic prime/boost cancer vaccine consisting of PVX7, which is a combination of two vaccines: the pBI-11 prime vaccine, a therapeutic codon-optimized plasmid DNA vaccine encoding for the E6 and E7 oncoproteins of the human papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes 16 (HPV16) and 18 (HPV18) fused with heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), and the HPV tumor antigen (TA-HPV) boost vaccine, a recombinant vaccinia viral vector-based vaccine encoding epitopes of the E6 and E7 oncoproteins from HPV16 and HPV18, with potential immunostimulating and antineoplastic activities. The pBI-11 DNA prime vaccine is administered first followed by the TA-HPV boost vaccine. Upon administration, the HPV 16/18 E6/E7/HSP70 DNA vaccine pBI-11 part of PVX7 expresses the HPV 16/18 E6/E7 fusion protein, which may elicit the host immune system to mount a specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response against cancer cells expressing the HPV 16/18 E6 and E7 oncoproteins, resulting in tumor cell lysis. Upon administration of the TA-HPV vaccinia vaccine part of PVX7, the HPV16 E6/E7 and the HPV18 E6/E7 may boost the host immune system to mount a specific CTL response against cancer cells expressing the HPV 16/18 E6 and E7 oncoproteins, thereby further killing these cancer cells. HSP70 enhances antigen presentation of pBI-11.